PM Narendra Modi to soon launch smart card for 40 crore unorganised workers

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon launch a smart card scheme for over 40 crore unorganised workers in the country to provide them various social security benefits like insurance and pension.

"Within one month Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch smart card called UWIN (Unorganised Workers' Identification Number) card. We had sought time from the Prime Minister for launching it for over 40 crore workers in the country," Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya told reporters at launch of Global Network Operations Centre (g-NOC) of EPFO here.

The minister said that through the UWIN card, government wants to provide social security to all those people who are not covered either by Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) or Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

He said that the UWIN card will be a chip-based instrument to provide benefit to these workers and their family under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), Atal Pension Yojana, Aam Admi Bima Yojana (AABY), Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.

The minister said that the entire task of issuing smart cards to all informal sector workers would take at least two years time and government will issue 10 crore such cards in the first phase.

Asked about Centre's plan to invest funds lying in dormant EPF accounts, the minister said, "We are custodian of the workers' money. The worker can come and claim his or her funds."